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As we consider the television landscape of the past year, a handful of series stand out not for their excellence, but for their notable failures. From awkward sequels to confusingly poor docuseries, here are the programmes that left us scratching our heads or just reaching for the remote.

And Just Like That

How to start with this divisive follow-up? Plagued with woeful writing, painful character development (justice for Miranda!), and a mere 71 seconds of fan-favourite Samantha, the series fought to justify its existence. Briefly, as the final season began, it looked like it had at last hit its stride. Then came an installment centered on Seema’s natural deodorant. No wonder the showrunner announced this would be the last season. It ended on a bum note; the lingering shot of Miranda’s loo full of poo was just way too on-the-nose. Yet, viewers undeniably found joy picking apart every single “what on earth?” moment. And as Carrie – once again single – twirled around her sprawling townhouse to Barry White, who didn’t release a little sob?

The Kim Kardashian Drama

‘Is Kim Kardashian an actress? Of course she can’t.’

But that was practically the smallest of this drama's problems. The recipient of a very rare no-star assessment, it was difficult to know where to begin listing the problems. The laughably leaden dialogue? The tedious veneration of affluence and consumption? The seemingly deliberate procession of tropes? Acting so poor they felt borderline malicious? Suffice it to say “each and every one” and forget about this show again. Except, a new season has been commissioned, so we’re probably going to have to.

The Charlie Sheen Documentary

Considering the legal troubles, domestic violence allegations and fatherly failures, it’s reasonable to say Charlie Sheen has been a bad boy. Not that you’d really have known it from this multi-part docuseries which chuckled along at Sheen’s various bouts of reckless hedonism while struggling to tell us a single thing we didn’t already know. Rather, it felt as if this loose cannon was being pandered to, so any pity this series might induce should be saved for the people who have had to endure close contact with this charismatic but flippant egotist.

The Supercomputer Drama

Of course we understood it was ridiculous from the outset: a thriller about a AI known as Charlie Big Potatoes that could either solve global crises – or destroy all of humanity. We stuck with it out of pure love for its stars … but by the end, it felt like even they had stopped bothering. One scarcely cared when his character died, and the other ultimately slicing Charlie with an axe … in super slow-motion. That's what you call giving up the ghost.

MobLand

Dodgy figures convening in deserted boxing gyms? A certain band's Firestarter jackhammering away in club scenes? The late 90s called and demands its crime drama back.

In truth, that is unfair on the crime shows of the late 90s. Many look a little old-fashioned now, but at least they didn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to indulge unconvincing accents. But there were many other problems. Primarily that it was just profoundly boring; a conflict over drug-selling territory between various cockney picaresques which seemed rather simplistic.

With Love, Meghan

Given the degree to which she grinds the gears of the nation’s ostentatiously enraged commentators, it’s almost easy to admire the Duchess of Sussex’s televised forays into twee homemaking as deliberate statements. But then you view them and are compelled to admit that in this case, they may have a point. It’s like watching a homeware catalogue animated; a meme for wine o’clock with delusions of grandeur; a parade of sleeping dogs, buzzing beehives, sentimental platitudes and forgettable crafting “hacks” you’ll forget instantly. All supported by vast, largely undeserved wealth. Ugh.

The Beckham Documentary

There are clearly fascinating things to be discussed about both Victoria Beckham and her struggles with career, identity, self-worth. But for some reason, this documentary series chose not to explore them. Rather, the experience was akin to reading a marketing brochure. She obviously has every right to resent what she describes as her “miserable cow” image. But sadly, she failed to do herself any helps with this cagey letdown of a series.

The Game Show

It had the potential to be the next cultural phenomenon – except even more extravagant, with a famous star playing dead and a well-known personality managing her inheritance. What more could you ask for? As players battled it out, there was plenty of backstabbing and squabbling. But the rules quickly became incomprehensible: it’s still too complicated to detail what precisely was happening. Even more disappointingly, we only saw brief appearances of the star via filmed videos. The show ended up smelling of a production that was trying way too hard to emulate something way beyond it.

The Lena Dunham Romcom

How do you follow a show that defined a generation? The pressure was immense for this glitzy romantic comedy about Jessica, a hopeful New Yorker who arrives in London with a broken heart. The star took her biggest role by the horns and was a delight to watch, embodying Jane Austen levels of romantic notions. But it was all very slick and, ironically, was insufficient. Plus, the abundance of celebrity friends involved felt icky.

The Sketch Show Return

Not even good enough to be ‘uneven’.

Given the smart recruitment of talented younger comics, expectations were high. But sadly, most of it didn’t land. A recurring sketch was a single joke milked to a dry pulp but repeated in every episode. One star seemed too willing to slip into a familiar ranting mode. The behind-the-scenes sketches, in contrast, simply inspired the thought that they should probably have remained in there a while longer.

The Knox Dramatisation

This retelling of the story of Amanda Knox was executive produced by Amanda Knox and pretty much solely showcased the perspective of Amanda Knox. So, while there probably is an compelling drama to be made about the tragic 2007 murder, this was not it. The material needed to be treated with care. Instead, the series laboured awkwardly to find the right voice, lumbering from strangely jaunty, somewhat stylised farce to inevitably, real-life horror. Twisted? Perhaps. A total mess? Very much so.

The Maths Genius Thriller

We admire the star … but did we believe him playing the greatest maths genius since, a man so intelligent he’s on the verge of a discovery that could destabilise society? Nope! This international thriller about government agencies targeting – and killing off – academics honestly got more absurd by the second. Formulaic nonsense.

The Bonnie Blue Documentary

This uncritical portrait followed the content creator renowned for explicit escapades as she undertook her biggest feat yet. What on earth would possess her? What we craved was way more examination of her true psychology, plus those of the men in the line. They could at least have interviewed the now-famous mum who appeared to haul her son out of the queue. What we got was disturbing shots and absolutely no interrogation of her notoriety whatsoever. It's staggering to consider, the documentary-maker has a young daughter too.